BT are finally taking over EE

In December, we reported that BT were looking at taking over EE and, it looks like it has finally happened, with BT saying that they're going to raise £1 billion through the placing of new shares, to fund the £12.5 billion acquisition.

BT have been talking to EE's owners - Orange and Deutsche Telekom - and the deal struck will be funded by giving Deutsche a 12% stake in BT and Orange, 4%.

"This is a major milestone for BT as it will allow us to accelerate our mobility plans and increase our investment in them," said BT Chief Executive Gavin Patterson, adding: "The UK's leading 4G network will now dovetail with the UK's biggest fibre network, helping to create the leading converged communications provider in the UK."

As well as standing to make loads of money and have much more power and influence, BT hope that, by buying the UK's largest superfast mobile network, it can combine it with their services to give customers seamless internet access via fibre broadband, WiFi hotspots and 4G mobile.

With EE saying that their customer base now stands at 7.7 million subscribers, this takeover is going to result in one Godzilla-sized company.

The combining of Britain's biggest fixed-line telecoms operator and the largest mobile operator will generate £360m in savings per year within four years, according to BT.

Of course, BT's rivals won't be happy about this and will be complaining about this to regulators or anyone else who'll listen about their dominance, which could mean BT giving up some of the control they've had on their fixed-line network. Keep an eye on Sky, looking at tag-teaming with O2 and locking antlers with BT over Premier League rights.